The drill is set to benefit both countries by sharing their expertise Egypt has been conducting a series of joint military drills with armed forces of different countries CAIRO: The Egyptian Army announced the launch of Egyptian-Sudanese joint air exercise, dubbed The Nile Eagles 1, in Sudan’s Marwa air base north of Khartoum. The Egyptian armed forces spokesman, Col. Tamer El-Refaie, said units from the air force and commando forces have arrived in Sudan’s Marwa air base to take part in the joint exercise. It runs until Nov. 26 and is the first of its kind between the two countries. El-Refaie said that the joint exercise comes within the framework of boosting joint military cooperation between the armed forces of both countries and aims to enhance capabilities to carry out joint air tasks. The exercise includes planning and managing joint combat activities by the two air forces. Multi-tasking fighter aircraft from both sides will execute offensive and defensive sorties on targets, and there will be training for the special forces of both countries in combat search and rescue activities. The joint exercise began with theoretical and practical lectures to unify the required concepts and exchange expertise between the two sides. Earlier, Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Mohamed Farid visited the Sudanese capital Khartoum to discuss means of enhancing joint military and security cooperation. His visit also aimed at coordinating efforts between the two countries in various domains. The army spokesman said Gen. Farid held meetings with his Sudanese counterpart, as well as with the Sudanese minister of defense to discuss joint cooperation. The talks covered the executive measures of the recent visit by Abdel-Fattah Al-Borhan, chair of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council to Cairo. The talks also covered the agreement between the Egyptian and Sudanese leadership to accelerate the development of military and security cooperation to boost the capabilities of both sides in the face of regional security challenges. During the meeting they agreed to carry out various training activities for all armed forces branches and to enhance cooperation in the fields of qualification, training and exchange of expertise, securing borders, combating terrorism, technical security and military industries. They further talked about enhancing the role of the armed forces in both countries in development and infrastructure projects.